Pull down menu displays

Abstract

In order to facilitate the use of pull down menu functions by users who may experience difficulty in maintaining cursor position within such a menu while displayed, an option is provided to enable such a user to make a pull down menu “sticky”, in the sense that menu collapse is less sensitive or insensitive to cursor movement away from the bounds of the menu. That is, cursor movement away from the bounds of the pull down menu allows the menu to continue to be displayed, allowing time for the user to correctly position the cursor to access a desired function from the pull down menu.

1 . Method comprising: 
 displaying an application program controlled work space enabling cursor control of pull down menus; and    responding to movement of a cursor away from a displayed pull down menu in a selected one of two characteristic ways; 
 a first response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to collapse; and  
 a second response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to persist.  
   
   
   
       2 . Method according to  claim 1  further comprising selecting which of the two responses is to be effective in the application program.  
   
   
       3 . Method according to  claim 1  wherein the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist for a predetermined interval of time after which the menu display is caused to collapse.  
   
   
       4 . Method according to  claim 3  further comprising selecting the interval of time during which the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist.  
   
   
       5 . Method according to  claim 1  further comprising suppressing all other pull down menus during the interval that the displayed pull down menu is caused to persist.  
   
   
       6 . Method comprising: 
 producing computer executable program code; and    providing the program code to be deployed to and executed on a computer system;    the program code providing instructions which:    displays an application program controlled work space enabling cursor control of pull down menus; and    responds to movement of a cursor away from a displayed pull down menu in a selected one of two characteristic ways; 
 a first response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to collapse; and  
 a second response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to persist.  
   
   
   
       7 . Method according to  claim 6  in which the program code instructions enable selecting which of the two responses is to be effective in the application program.  
   
   
       8 . Method according to  claim 6  wherein the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist for a predetermined interval of time after which the menu display is caused to collapse.  
   
   
       9 . Method according to  claim 8  in which the program code instructions enable selecting the interval of time during which the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist.  
   
   
       10 . Method according to  claim 6  in which the program code instructions suppress all other pull down menus during the interval that the displayed pull down menu is caused to persist.  
   
   
       11 . Apparatus comprising: 
 a computer system; and    computer executable code stored accessibly to and executing on said computer system, said code when executing: 
 displaying an application program controlled work space enabling cursor control of pull down menus; and  
 responding to movement of a cursor away from a displayed pull down menu in a selected one of two characteristic ways; 
 a first response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to collapse; and  
 a second response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to persist.  
 
   
   
   
       12 . Apparatus according to  claim 11  in which said computer executable code enables selecting which of the two responses is to be effective in the application program.  
   
   
       13 . Apparatus according to  claim 11  wherein the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist for a predetermined interval of time after which the menu display is caused to collapse.  
   
   
       14 . Apparatus according to  claim 13  in which said computer executable code enables selecting the interval of time during which the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist.  
   
   
       15 . Apparatus according to  claim 11  in which said computer executable code suppresses all other pull down menus during the interval that the displayed pull down menu is caused to persist.  
   
   
       16 . A program product comprising: 
 computer readable media;    computer executable code stored on said media accessibly to and executable on a computer system, said code when executing: 
 displaying an application program controlled work space enabling cursor control of pull down menus; and  
 responding to movement of a cursor away from a displayed pull down menu in a selected one of two characteristic ways; 
 a first response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to collapse; and  
 a second response to cursor movement away from the menu causing the menu display to persist.  
 
   
   
   
       17 . Program product according to  claim 16  in which said computer executable code enables selecting which of the two responses is to be effective in the application program.  
   
   
       18 . Program product according to  claim 16  wherein the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist for a predetermined interval of time after which the menu display is caused to collapse.  
   
   
       19 . Program product according to  claim 18  in which said computer executable code enables selecting the interval of time during which the second response causes the displayed pull down menu to persist.  
   
   
       20 . Program product according to  claim 16  in which said computer executable code suppresses all other pull down menus during the interval that the displayed pull down menu is caused to persist.